The Morning Ledger: Signs of Thaw in Business Spending

By

David Hall

Apr 5, 2012 6:36 am ET

Is the spending freeze starting to thaw? Companies are starting to look beyond buybacks and dividends — spending some of their cash on things that might actually boost the economy, says Businessweek’s Matthew Philips. Two surveys support his claim: the National Federation of Independent Business (PDF) finds a big jump in capex over the past six months – mostly on big ticket items. And the American City Business Journals’ SMB Insights study found that executives plan to boost spending by 5.9% this year.

“Despite the fair amount of uncertainly related to China and Europe, there is a willingness among businesses to invest when it makes sense to do so, which is quite encouraging,” says Tobias Levkovich, Citi’s chief U.S. equity strategist.

Question for Ledger readers: What are you seeing out there? Are you ramping up spending, and are you seeing competitors do so? Email us with your thoughts.

THE DAY AHEAD: If businesses are spending, they should be hiring. But weekly jobless claims are expected to come in flat at around 360,000. Also, President Obama signs the JOBS Act today in the Rose Garden. (More below.)

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